Tag: romance books

Linda Howard is a New York Times bestselling author and she’s a recipient of the Romance Writers of America’s Lifetime Achievement award. If you are a fan of rugged and earthy romance heroes, you should try her work. The men in her stories often exhibit alpha tendencies. They are territorial and protect their own, they are blatantly masculine, and when they fall in love with the heroine, they fall hard.

I read over 100 romance stories this year. Admittedly, there were quite a few books I didn’t finish. There were also a few that unexpectedly ended in cliffhangers (my pet peeve!) or worse, brought in a love triangle. Ugh. It almost made me run back to my keeper shelf and my tried-and-true favorite authors.

But I was determined to break out of my reading comfort zone. I’m glad I stuck with this resolution because my absolute favorites romantic reads this year were written by new-to-me authors. Here are my five favorites of 2018: Continue reading “My 5 Favorite Romance Books of 2018”→

What is the most important quality of a romance heroine? When Maya Rodale surveyed romance readers for her Dangerous Books for Girls study, a whopping 89% said the most important trait was intelligence. A sense of humor was a close second at 87% and independence came in third with a 69%.

Browse through the romance section of any brick and mortar bookstore and you will see quite a few cowboys on the covers. Thanks to film and folklore, there is a mythical idea of the cowboy and the legends continue today. Ask anyone to describe a cowboy and they might say he’s a heroic man of action. He could be a charming rogue, a dangerous outlaw or a chivalrous knight.

But almost all of the cowboys in fiction share these traits: they are independent men in charge of their destiny. They make their opportunities and their fortune through hard work and luck. A cowboy is a dreamer who goes west, untethered by rules and society. His grit is hard-won as he faces adventure and tames nature.

Cowboys are favorites among romance readers because the archetype embodies the American spirit.